What are you missing…

[Ben Sims]

…in your golf resume?


Some of us compete, travel to see courses, work in the industry, write, or just play locally. Part of why I like this site is all the different experiences. What are you missing in your personal list of experiences and/or accomplishments? Please keep your list to under five things. For me:


1) playing The Old Course. I’ve walked it now and that’s just not enough.


2) be on tournament greens crew at the Open and the PGA. I didn’t really think about it until recently, but being on the tournament greens crew at the Masters and the US Open, I think I’d like to get the grand slam.


3) become a sub-5 handicap. There’s something about being able to consistently play good golf that makes the game a bit more enjoyable.

4) play much, much more golf in the UK and Ireland. Two trips now and I think going every summer will be a fixture until I’m unable. It’s very special.


5) play at the home club of all my golf friends. It’s more rewarding than being an unaccompanied guest without question.

[Tommy Williamsen]

When I was younger, I wanted to make the cut at either the Maryland Open or the Mid-Atlantic Open. I never did.


I was the stroke play club champion once, but I only made it to the finals in match play and never won.


I have not been to the Masters.

[Brian Finn]

A few fairly specific items, which I plan to tackle in the relatively near future:

1. Play a bunch of links golf in Ireland & Northern Ireland - my first links round ever was at Portmarnock, but haven't played golf on Irish soil since - by far the biggest hole in my experience

2. Play in the Scottish Highlands - I have visited Scotland several times, covered most regions (including both big names and lesser-known courses), but never made it North of Cruden Bay

3. Play the "best of the best" in the US - I have played roughly half of any top 100 US list, but not many of the top 10-20 - beyond just wanting to see these great courses, I'm genuinely curious whether there really is a significant gap in quality.

4. Attend the Open Championship - I've been to the Masters, US Open, and PGA several times each, and figure I ought to get to at least one Open.  While it is my favorite of the majors, I have opted to spend my limited time in GB&I playing links golf and not watching it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A couple more that I have in mind, but it may take a while before I can really consider them:

5. Play the top 100 links courses, play every links course - I am not a list chaser, because pretty much every list has at least a few courses that I'm not terribly interested in visiting - BUT - any list of links courses, particularly those best regarded, would seem a fun one to give a shot.

6. Play in Australia & New Zealand - I imagine it will probably take multiple trips (of 2+ weeks at a time) to see what I would like (golf and non-golf) - cost and time limitations put this out several years for me.

[Bruce Katona]

1. I'd like to play Cypress Point
2. I'd like to attend the Masters.
3. I'd like to Plsy AGNC.
4. i'd like to play Fishers.
5. I'd like to and likely will play in the UK/NI.
6. I'll get to an Open.
7. I'D LIKE TO MAKE A HOLE IN ONE!

[George Pazin]

I'm missing pretty much everything - EXCEPT the hole in one    - but as far as things related to this site, the one thing I really wanted and expected to do was take a couple weeks, maybe a month, and go work on the construction of a golf course.


That will be on my bucket list for as long as I'm around.

[DFarron]

1. Qualify for a PGA Tour Champions/US Senior Open
2. Replay all the great courses that I played as a younger man that I didn’t really appreciate at the time (Inverness, Muirfield Village, Oakland Hills etc )
3. Play Seminole, Crystal Downs, Augusta, Pine Valley and LACC North.


After that I’m good. Have been incredibly blessed to have played all over and with a lot of cool people. I’m very humbled and greatful!

[Don Mahaffey]

…in your golf resume?

3) become a sub-5 handicap. There’s something about being able to consistently play good golf that makes the game a bit more enjoyable.

It's not hard to become a sub 5 hdcp, playing to it is another matter....

[Ben Sims]

I'm missing pretty much everything - EXCEPT the hole in one    - but as far as things related to this site, the one thing I really wanted and expected to do was take a couple weeks, maybe a month, and go work on the construction of a golf course.


That will be on my bucket list for as long as I'm around.

George,


In what seems like another life now, there was a brief moment in time where I was thinking of my post-military life being in the golf construction or turf world. In that time I was invited to help work at Dismal River with Don and his crew, and also to tag along with Brian Slawnik a bit. It was 10 days I’ll never forget. One, because it was a alot of fun and a lot of camaraderie and I feel like I saw behind the curtain for a millisecond. Two, because it’s a life I can’t really see myself having enjoyed once the initial novelty wore off. Those guys work their asses off. In lonely places. In many ways it was like being deployed in the military.

[Ben Sims]

…in your golf resume?

3) become a sub-5 handicap. There’s something about being able to consistently play good golf that makes the game a bit more enjoyable.

It's not hard to become a sub 5 hdcp, playing to it is another matter....

That’s a fact. I’m glad my home course is hard for that reason. Lots of vanity 5’s and 4’s out there. Playing by the rules and holing out helps a lot. 

[Ira Fishman]

Ben,


Another interesting question.


1. Learn how to read a topo map.
2. Caddy in the Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, or Palmer Cup.
3. Have a clue about how drainage actually works.
4. Play a few of my favorites one more time.
5. Not conclude that a MacKenzie bag makes no financial sense.


Ira

[Peter Sayegh]

#1: More rounds with lifelong friends-no matter the venue.

#2: An ace. Again, the course wouldn't matter. I think I'm owed one by this point.
I've witnessed my non-golfing brother score two. Each one involved one-three contacts with a tree or cart path before finding the hole. What a cruel game.

#3: (An increasingly fleeting goal): Visit GB&I.

[Craig Sweet]

I'd like to move to Ireland, join a club, live out my remaining year over there. ....I'm working on it. 

[Matthew Lloyd]

Great question. In no particular order:


1. Take golf trips to Ireland, Scotland and England. This is the most glaring gap on my resume. Some other countries and continents would be great too - but those I’d consider a bonus. The British isles golf feels essential to me.


2. Be a member of a club where I can play golf with my future dog(s). This is most important to me - and I hope that Kingsley never changes their pro-dog policy.


3. Play a round of golf in every state. I don’t intend to go out of my way to accomplish this - but it’s something I’d like to do over time without straining to make the effort. (I plan to visit Alaska for bear watching at some point and will fit golf in as Anchorage looks fun based on posts here)


4. Find more opportunities to wear my “ivy patchwork” hogan style golf hat. I love this hat but I find that it puts way too much pressure on me to perform well on the course. It’s almost as much pressure as showing up wearing white pants.


5. Stay in great shape like my dad and his longtime golfing companions who are still taking trips in their mid-80s. That is not a gap in my resume I suppose since it’s something you slowly work towards - but I hope this never becomes a gap.

[George Pazin]

I'd like to move to Ireland, join a club, live out my remaining year over there. ....I'm working on it.

I sincerely hope this is simply an unfortunately worded sentence.


———


Ben -


I don’t doubt the work is very hard, and with my fake knee, I probably couldn’t do a lot of it, but I’d still like to spend some time on a site, should the opportunity avail itself. I did tell my wife that I know I couldn’t do it long term, those guys are better men than me, which is an admittedly low bar.


Peter S -


I always enjoy telling people about my ace, which came after a little more than 2 years of playing, and not a lot of rounds or practice…  

[Paul Rudovsky]

Watch Ben Hogan hit a golf shot in person. (Somehow I sense that given I have never done this, the chances of doing it in the future are fairly low!)

[David_Tepper]

1) Never been a single-digit handicap.

2) Never played Pebble Beach, despite living in San Francisco for 52 years. (although I have walked the course multiple times during pro tournaments)

3) Never been to the Masters or the Open Championship. (although I have played 4 courses in the Open rota) 

[Sean_A]

I would like to do a few New England trips.


I would like to do a western states trip.


Ciao

[Philippe Binette]

1) renovate my home course
2) being a scratch player and play an open championship qualifier
3) visiting the heathland courses near london
4) cape breton golf trail

[Richard Fisher]

To have played for one day off 9.4 (or lower) - as opposed to 30 years now of 12-14ish mediocrity
To have played the great courses of the West Coast of Ireland
To have played any of the great courses of North America
On the other hand, happy membership of four of Ran's original 147 costs me less than £3000 per annum, so huge amounts for this UK-based golfer to be grateful for

[Mark Pearce]

On the other hand, happy membership of four of Ran's original 147 costs me less than £3000 per annum, so huge amounts for this UK-based golfer to be grateful for

I have only been a member of one, and that for just one year.  But this post caused me to look at Ran's 147 Custodians list.  And that led me to realise that Elie isn't on that list.  Which I find extraordinary.

[Joe_Tucholski]

I expected the thread to be littered with lists of high end private clubs in the US.  To my surprise only 3 people referenced these type of clubs while 8 people referenced playing in UK/Ireland, where I guess it's about getting there.

[Joe_Tucholski]

I'd like to move to Ireland, join a club, live out my remaining year over there. ....I'm working on it.

Craig, saw your post about your interest in getting to Ireland.  Hope things go the way you would like.  I had a health scare where I thought I would be short on time and oddly the memories of many of my golfing experiences made me feel rather content with the situation.


Hope it's not too personal but why Ireland and where are you thinking?

[Tim Gallant]

- Later in life, I'd love to spend a summer working on the grounds crew at a place like Sand Hills. I like waking up early and being outside (but not in winter there ). Work and learn how to prepare a golf course for play. Go home and relax during the afternoon, then come back in the evening for a twilight round.


- I want to caddie in retirement. I'm not one that can sit still in the house for my later years. I'd love to caddie somewhere and meet people. Would also keep me active.



- I've always loved the idea of doing a cross-country round for charity. NB to Gullane along the shoreline. Logistical nightmare, but I have hope

- An Autumn trip around New England. Stay in B&Bs, eat pancakes every morning, and then walk it off with some hike or round of golf in the fall foliage.
[size=78%] [/size]

[Ryan Book]

My travel "bucket list" is a bit more conservative than most, because I'm a bit more pragmatic than most. Currently trying to center my experience/expertise on Ohio, as I live right in the middle of it. Doing pretty well in terms of getting to the "bests," as well as the obscure/semi-obscure Golden Agers but, as you may be surprised to learn, it's those "top 10" that are the tough ones to find a buddy at.


Eventually, when they money's right and the kids a bit older, I aim to join a club. Probably not a Scioto Country Club, or even a Columbus Country Club. Those clubs are already "there." I'd like to join one that's not there yet but has the potential to be there...


...which transitions into goal no. 3, which is to be on a greens committee and help usher a club with a potential become something worth talking about.

[Bruce Hospes]

A round with my two Sons at St Andrews.